


Silent Turning to Serene

by Lokislittlearmy



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Demon Shane Madej, Dissociation, Exorcisms, Gen, Or at least a metaphor for it, Out of Character, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 18:12:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13886337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokislittlearmy/pseuds/Lokislittlearmy
Summary: The priest knelt down to his level. "Has he been acting overly sarcastic or had an inherent distaste for anything spiritual?""He's always been like that." Ryan had let his camera swing to his side, presumably off or at least on standby.Shane looked around. "He couldn't have known. It's been...a long time."





	Silent Turning to Serene

Okay, so Shane did not expect the exorcism to actually work. They never did. Ghosts never went after him, the spirit box never worked, and neither did this ridiculous superstition.

Almost never. He had to preface that with almost. Before now, he had never encountered anything that actually worked.

No, Shane—the real Shane—had been trapped within his own body for longer than he could remember. He'd been taken over by a sarcastic demon who decided to befriend a cheerful and easily frightened man at his new workplace. He didn't understand it. This demon, whatever it was, just wanted to live some normal life. Kind of normal. 

Then this cheerful and easily frightened man proposed an idea for a new show. They'd been talking about unsolved crimes for one season, but this man wanted to prove the existence of ghosts and demons. Shane smiled, and it was genuine only on one side. He felt mockery swirl within him, interrupted only by a spark of hope.

That spark extinguished in a couple days. Ryan met all the wrong conclusions, and the superstitions Shane relied on proved just that.

Anxiety bubbled up as Shane stepped up to the priest (as the demon stepped up to the priest). He knew it wouldn't work, but this time somehow felt different. The priest put his hand on Shane's shoulder, and the demon realized he was fucked.

Shane didn't know exactly what tipped him off. But he knew this was it. He couldn't move. He felt frozen as the priest met his eyes and began speaking in Latin. "Now," he said in English, "Be gone, Pytho."

Pain. His vision went red, and he collapsed to his hands and knees. Vaguely, in the distance, he heard Ryan curse and freak out. He couldn't really hear past his own screams. The priest kept speaking in Latin. But it wasn't Shane that felt the pain. He still felt like a passenger to his own body. Slowly, he felt himself pulled into his body. His hands fit back and he could flex his fingers again. He could wiggle his toes. He felt his lungs heaving, and as he did his screams started subsiding.

He collapsed on the floor, fully himself again. The priest stayed silent. Ryan could hardly hold in his own confusion and horror. "Is this a prank?" he whispered. Shane's eyes blinked open. He lifted his hand to wipe tears away. He startled himself in two ways. Firstly, he did that himself. He could actually see the ground before him and Ryan's shoes and the shadows from the dim lighting. Secondly, his tears were pitch black.

Shane shot up and looked around, chest heaving. The priest knelt down to his level. "It's okay. You're here. You're safe." The words brought a new bought of tears to Shane's eyes, thankfully clear. The priest stood and turned to Ryan. "I'm afraid it's no prank. Your friend had a dark spirit within him, but it's gone now. Did you see any signs of possession?"

Ryan shifted uncomfortably, only glancing at Shane. "I don't think so."

"Has he been acting overly sarcastic or had an inherent distaste for anything spiritual?"

"He's always been like that." Ryan had let his camera swing to his side, presumably off or at least on standby. 

Shane looked around. He didn't see any tissues, but the black tears had started to drip past his chin. He pulled up the lapel of his denim jacket and wiped his tears where they wouldn't be visible. "He couldn't have known. It's been...a long time." He pushed himself to his feet. The priest caught him when he stumbled and nearly fell. "Thank you, Father."

When he looked over, Ryan looked horrified. He hadn't missed some tears or made it worse, had he? "How...how long has it been?" Oh. That's what he would want to know.

He had to think about it for a couple seconds. "I had just applied for a job at Buzzfeed. I wanted to be a video producer. And I guess I am. But maybe...October of that year?"

Ryan looked like he was about to cry. "It's been three years?" His breath hitched. "Hold on. This entire time we've been friends, you've been possessed? Have I ever met _you_?"

"Well..." He needed to soften this blow somehow. "My name is still Shane Madej. I grew up in Chicago. I'm still a video producer." Shane curled in on himself, just a little bit. He could see Ryan shaking. "I'm sorry. I wish we could have gotten to know each other."

The priest shifted. "You still can. Shane, you've gotten your life back. You have the rest of it ahead of you. Ryan, the man in front of you knows you even if you don't know him. And the fact that he's already trying to comfort you tells me that he's more than willing to be there." He looked back to Shane. "I haven't seen a case of your duration in a long time. You'll have a hard time adjusting back to your daily life. I've heard a lot of my clients explain their sudden shift as a mental illness or a hard time in their life. That might help you."

"Thank you, Father. I'll keep in touch."

The walk to the car was silent. Shane helped pack the gear away in the car, exactly how it always went. Ryan went to help as if he wouldn't know, but he did. They got into the car in the same still silence. Shane looked in the flip down mirror and wiped the traces of black from his face. He pulled out his phone. He could start customizing it again. 

One cute thing: both his lock screen and wallpaper were...oh no. "What am I going to tell Sara?"

It didn't sound like Ryan was going to respond at first. His grip tightened on the steering wheel. Finally, he spoke. "I don't know, man." He paused. "I guess you can say you had some sort of revelation. She loves you no matter what." Hopefully. Shane opened the gallery on his phone as the streetlights passed through the window. He remembered all of these moments...kind of. Most of them were screenshots or pictures of sets. Lots of Ryan looking done with his shit in the background.

He glanced over to Ryan now. Ryan stared straight ahead and drummed his fingers on the wheel. Shane wanted to turn the music back on. They had turned it down as they approached, but he desperately needed some sort of distraction. 

He just had to say something. Something to diffuse the situation. "I, uh, just want to say that..." He had Ryan's attention now. Problem was, he did not prepare anything to say before he got said attention. "I actually have no idea what I wanted to say. I'm used to words just coming out." He noticed the twitch at Ryan's lips. On the right track, then. "I've been building up so much to say over the past three years, and now that I can say them, I have no idea where to start."

Ryan shifted in his seat. "Well, we have about two hours before we get back so you have plenty of time." He paused. "What kind of videos were you going to make?"

They didn't stop talking after that. Conversation flowed just as easily as it did before. He would have made positive pick-up videos. He did love some of the demon's ideas, but not to the extent he took them. He liked things neat and orderly. 

"So basically, you're the exact opposite of the fake Shane Madej," Ryan said as he pulled into the studio parking lot.

"Pretty much." He looked to where Sara was waiting in the car. A pit of dread settled in his stomach. "What if she doesn't like the new me?"

"Sara is literally one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She'll adore you." Ryan pulled into a spot. The two of them sat for a moment. "Listen, if you don't wanna stay and unpack, you can go ahead. I'm not sure how into putting stuff off you are."

Shane let out a breath-filled laugh. "I'll help you unpack."

The two of them lugged a case in each. Shane started putting things away as Ryan went back for more. It felt natural, routine. It was. He finished just as fast as he usually would. Ryan stacked the tubs in a corner. He gave Shane a tentative smile. "Well, see you tomorrow?"

He was trying so hard to act as if everything was normal. Like he didn't just see his best friend turn into a completely different person. Shane couldn't tell who he was doing it for, but he could tell that Ryan didn't want to. So he stepped forward and held his hand out. "My name is Shane. I grew up in Chicago, wanting to be a video producer. I'm a Taurus. I always wear the same hat. The glasses I've been wearing for the past three years have a wildly outdated prescription. Horror movies terrify me. And I don't want you to force yourself to be my friend, but I do want to get to know you again."

Ryan stared up at him. For a moment, Shane worried he'd messed up. Maybe Ryan did want to pretend everything was fine. But then a small smile spread across his face. He shook Shane's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shane. And I already consider you a friend."

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first rpf fic so uh...Yikes. Anyway, have this. I left it kinda open ended just in case there's a want for a continuation, but I definitely think I can leave it here.
> 
> Questions? Requests? Thoughts? My tumblr is littlelionkai.


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